


and yet

by cardans



Category: Set It Up (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Feelings Realization, Internal Monologue, Kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardans/pseuds/cardans
Summary: Suze is great. Suze is perfect. But she’s not this. She’ll never be like this. She’ll never be the girl he can eat five dollar pizza with at two in the morning on his bedroom floor. She’s always been the prize he gets for all of the shit he puts up with. Like Rick can treat him like shit all day but when he goes home, he’s got Suze. Hot, sexy Suze, who is inviting him places with her bedroom eyes and aura of wealth. Suze, who is the light at the end of the tunnel, the goal. He’s just not sure he wants that goal anymore.It’s a stupid thing to think, made worse by the copious amounts of alcohol and carbs coming over him, but maybe it’s true.a deepdive into charlie’s thoughts on the night of becca’s engagement party..
Relationships: Charlie/Harper (Set It Up)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	and yet

**Author's Note:**

> the pizza scene hits different every time i watch it so i wrote this to treat myself. it's literally 600 words of self-indulgence hehe.

It’s two in the morning and Charlie’s eating pizza.

It’s not the first time he’s done this, but it _is_ the first time he’s done this with Harper. Harper, who is pressed to his side with a slice of pizza folded in her hand, looking nothing like the frantic girl he’d first met all those nights ago. 

“This is the best meal I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she says. She’s staring at the opposite wall, her slice ripped in half. There’s grease on her face and on her fingers and she’s got this dazed look in her eyes, like she’s half there and half not. He doesn’t know what it is about that look, but it kicks up something inside of him.

He tries to trap it, tries to punch it down into something teeny-tiny and easily ignored, but it doesn’t work. Realization flares up in his chest, hot and ugly, like he’s waking up for the first time in years and realizing this isn’t where he wants to be. He doesn’t want to be the assistant to some douchebag, doesn’t want to be the accessory boyfriend to some model.

No – he can’t be thinking like this. It’s just…

Suze is great. Suze is perfect. But she’s not this. She’ll never be like this. She’ll never be the girl he can eat five dollar pizza with at two in the morning on his bedroom floor. She’s always been the prize he gets for all of the shit he puts up with. Like Rick can treat him like shit all day but when he goes home, he’s got Suze. Hot, sexy Suze, who is inviting him places with her bedroom eyes and aura of wealth. Suze, who is the light at the end of the tunnel, the goal. He’s just not sure he wants that goal anymore.

It’s a stupid thing to think, made worse by the copious amounts of alcohol and carbs coming over him, but maybe it’s true. 

You like because and you love despite. That’s what Becca had said. You can like and and like and like and yet one little thing can tear it all down. He likes Suze’s hair, and her face, and the way she calls him Baby, but then there’s Harper. She’s his And Yet. This isn’t anything like what Becca said at her bridal party, isn’t anything like what she meant, but it’s what’s true for him.

He’s with Suze. Harper’s got her salamander. And yet.

And yet.

“I should probably go home.”

The words pull him out of his little what if fantasy. It’s a good fantasy, but it’s unrealistic. Because he’s got Suze. Harper’s got her salamander. And that’s it. There’s no And Yet. There will never be an And Yet. This isn’t Romeo and Juliet. They’re not fated lovers. They’re just two meddling assistants. 

“Slice for the road?” The words form around half chewed bites of pizza. The realization is gone and dead, replaced by thoughts of pizza and booze.

“Two, please. But roll it crust side out. I’m a lady,” Harper says, all wide-eyed and dead serious. He watches her as she gets up, as she hops out of his window, and his world tilts again. The haze lifts and he finds himself wanting. He finds himself longing for more late night pizzas and dances at bridal parties and simple pleasures. 

He takes a deep breath. Let’s himself imagine, just for a moment, of what could be. It’s a nice life, this fantasy world he’s created for himself. It’s a simple one. There’s no scrambling to get to dates, no getting broken up with at school plays. There’s just happiness and Harper.

His phone rings. Suze is calling. He stares at the screen, punches the decline button, and grabs another slice of pizza. 


End file.
